COMMUNITY CONCERT HALL: Once-decrepit building now major venue for midsize performances

Through 60 years of ice shows, circuses, and concerts by the biggest names in music — such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Tech N9ne — the Shrine Auditorium has served as the community gym.

As recently as 1994, birds were flying through the broken windows of the Shrine at 1125 Broadwater Ave., and the Al Bedoo Shrine organization was considering selling it.

 Frank Glasgow, who is now Al Bedoo Shrine treasurer and building manager, had just joined the fraternal organization and rallied members to make repairs. The circus returned in 1998, and concerts were quick to follow.

“Frank refers to her as the ‘Old Girl.’ He’s always saying ‘We’ve got to keep the Old Girl going,’ ” said longtime Shriner Dave Rahn. “Frank has a real passion, not just for the philanthropy of the Shrine organization, but for the building.”

Built in 1950, a year after the city and county opted not to erect a civic center, the Shrine thrived as a concert venue in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s with an impressive list of performers filing through. There are no files showing exact dates, but Shriners who have been around for four or five decades recall shows by Bill Haley and the Comets, Duke Ellington, Guy Lombardo, Eddie Cochran, Dizzie Gillespie, Dottie West and the Kingston Trio.

Billings deejay Lonnie Bell introduced many of the country acts, starting in 1964 when Bell arrived in town to work for KOYN radio. He remembers seeing Buck Owens at the Shrine, and one of his favorites, Ernest Tubb, came through twice. But the most memorable night was when Bell introduced Johnny Cash.

“Bill Drilling of KOYN radio said he’d give me $125 to introduce the Johnny Cash show. That was the first time I ever got paid to introduce anybody because I’d always done it for free. I got over there and Mother Maybelle Carter was there. Johnny didn’t talk much, but he said to give Mother Maybelle a big buildup and just say his name in the intro. He heard me give the speech and out of the corner of his mouth, I heard him say, ‘Give Lonnie $100 for that big build up for Mother Maybelle.’ So here I got $225 for giving an intro.”

At one time, Shrine clowns parked all the cars. Bell said he remembered when a show cost a promoter $70, which included $35 for use of the venue and $35 for valet parking.

These days, the Shrine shows off a new sign, proclaiming it as “Billings premier performing arts center.” And, it kicks off a busy week with back-to-back shows by Taj Mahal tonight and Theory of a Deadman on Thursday.

“Business has never been better,” Glasgow said. “It’s hard to get a day off here lately. We’re out of basketball season now, but we’ve got concerts all spring and the circus in April.”

Glasgow figures even with the hit the economy took last year, people can still afford a $20 or $30 ticket to see a live show, especially when they don’t have to leave town for it.

“People might not be able to afford to go to Hawaii, but they’re spending their money in town,” Glasgow said. “We’re certainly more busy than we’ve been in the last couple of years.”

Two Billings promoters, 1111 Presents and Magic City Blues, have been working with regional promoters, Jade Presents and Silver Tag Live, respectively, to bring shows to the Shrine. Magic City Blues is presenting the Taj Mahal concert and a March 7 show by the Wailers. Just off a big Shrine show last week bringing in 1,700 people to see Five Finger Death Punch, 1111 Presents is bringing Theory of a Deadman here Thursday, NOFX on April 23 and Mastodon on May 13.

“I love the Shrine,” 1111 Presents promoter Sean Lynch said. “It’s a perfect size. Metra is good, too, but it’s too big for a lot of our shows. Fifteen hundred looks really good in the Shrine, but not so good at Metra. You just have to embrace what it is and what it is is a gymnasium.”

Tim Goodridge of Magic City Blues said Billings is lucky to have the Shrine.

“Without it, there would be a fraction of the national shows playing in Billings,” Goodridge said. “The size of the room means you can sell enough tickets to attract name brand acts, and the no-frills nature helps keep costs low so tickets can remain affordable.”

Rahn said he grew up at the Shrine. and his late father Dave was the first circus chairman in 1951. Two big events for a boy, riding an elephant at the Shrine Circus when he was 7, and sitting on Louis Armstrong’s knee when he was 10, have stayed with him.

“I had just taken up the trumpet, and while I don’t remember much, everything I’ve heard of Louis since made me a fan. He was a very jovial guy, very congenial. And he was accommodating. I was in a line with a whole group of kids and people who knew somebody at the Shrine and got a chance to meet him.”

Rahn, who is now 65, said the 1955 Armstrong concert was so exciting it gave him the incentive he needed to keep playing the trumpet. He currently plays in two Shrine bands.

The Shrine organization raises money for 23 Shrine hospitals, but the profit generated by the events at the Shrine Auditorium do not go to the hospitals. Rather it is put into the maintenance and operations costs for the building, Rahn said.

Over the years, the Shrine has made improvements to the facility to better accommodate concerts, adding colored stage lights and rigging for backdrops and curtains. Glasgow said plans are to supplement the overhead rigging to accommodate overhead speakers to improve the sound quality. He is also looking at repairing or replacing the swamp cooler to cool it down during summer concerts. He envisions the rent staying low at its current price of $1,100 for the upstairs because it keeps the promoters and the fans happy.

“We make it as easy as we can for the promoter to make money. The more success they have, the more they’ll come back,” Rahn said.